“The fuck you will!” He leaned in and narrowed his eyes. “If you hadn't run into Cy, that would have been fine. The Gods know we haven't been celibate. But it's too late, sugah. We've got your scent now, and we know you're ours. The animals inside us will not abide another taking our mate. Best you just come home with me now and meet Lex.”
“No, and who the fuck is Lex?”
“Our third packmate.”
“Weird names,” I muttered.
“Haven is an unusual name too.”
“I picked it out.”
“Actually, it's kind of perfect. That's what you'll be to us.”
“Okay, you're fucking creeping me out now. If you really want me to go through with this, I suggest you get out of my car and give me some time to adjust.”
“What do you mean,if?” Jake braced a hand on my headrest. “You belong to us. It's done. Not only is it your destiny, but you also agreed to it. You made a deal with the Devil, cher. There is no if.”
“You see, that's where we disagree.” I pushed his hand off my seat. “There's always an escape clause. And if you keep pushing me, motherfucker, I'm gonna find it.”
Jake jerked back. “You can't escape. This isn't about escape. You should want to be with us. You're—”
“If you say that I belong to you one more time, you pig, I will drive to the nearest police station, scream for help, and then speed away as the police keep you occupied. And I'll keep driving until I'm out of your territory.”
“It doesn't matter where you go.” He tapped his gorgeous nose. “We'll find you. And we'll bring you back,mate.”
“Now, that sounds like a threat. I don't take well to threats.” I turned on the engine.
Jake climbed out of the car, but he didn't shut the door. Instead, he braced himself on it and the hood, then leaned in tosay, “Don't run, Salina. We'll see it as foreplay.” Then he shut the door.
“You're sick!” I shouted as Jake walked away. With the car running, I watched him leave, trying my best not to stare at his phenomenal ass. How I could be attracted to that asshole after he threatened to hunt me down, I have no idea. In my defense, I was furious as well as turned on.
Bad move on Jake's part. I'd been wavering before, but after that bullshit, I was determined to find a way out of my contract—a way that would keep me living and living the lifestyle I was getting accustomed to.
Chapter Fourteen
I woke up the next morning intent on finding a loophole. Those hounds were hot, but I'd had more than my fair share of overbearing men. Hotness means nothing in that situation. Having a sexy guy obsessed with you sounds great in theory. In practice, it's infuriating. Those good looks made it worse. As if they were ruining their attractiveness. Yes, that's it. They were ruining their god-given gifts with their alphahole personalities.
And these assholes were supposed to be my destiny? Ha! All right, so maybe I had antagonized them a little. But they deserved it. Nope, I wasn't feeling bad about what I'd said to Cyrus anymore. After meeting Jake, I knew why Hades had been so eager to make this deal. No other woman would fall for these guys, even with all they had to offer.
But what could I do?
First things first—I needed coffee.
Well, I didn't need it, but I wanted it. And pastries. And a steak. People had steak for breakfast, didn't they? I wanted mine smothered in gravy. Oh, maybe a chicken fried steak. That was the answer. Frying something made it a breakfast food. I wasn't sure about the intelligence behind that, but I didn't care about my health.
I got into a Maison Margiela dress, slipped on some Fendi sandals, and grabbed the black birkin Hades had provided. I had other purses I'd bought on my shopping spree, but the birkin won out. Probably because I knew it would have taken me months of buying scarves and other accessories from Hermés before they allowed me to even touch one of their birkins. People don't realize how elite those bags are. Not only do you have to have the cash to buy one, but you also have to prove your loyalty to Hermés first. It was ridiculous. So much better to go through Boutique Hades.
I grinned at the leather bag—a limited edition accented with snakeskin, no less. Guilt rose to ruin my glee. Hades had more than kept his end of the bargain. He'd gone above and beyond to make me happy. And I was gonna rain on his Cerberus parade.
Possibly.
I locked my front door, then just stood on the porch. It wasn't as if there was a god court to appeal to. A divine lawyer. No, I had to do this on my own. I started toward the side of the house and then remembered something. Pausing, I glanced over my shoulder. No stalkers in sight—neither the average-looking man nor the hounds. Good. I looked back at the house. Hades had installed a state-of-the-art security system, but that wouldn't mean much to an obsessed man. Especially when those obsessed men had magic.
Maybe I shouldn't leave. All of my nice new things were in there, and the thought of some guy pawing through my stuff made me sick.
“It's just stuff.” I went to the car. “And they'll be pawing at more than my underwear if I don't find a way out of this.”
I got in, started the engine, and backed onto the street. Or tried to. A yip and a shout had me stomping on the brake.
